A Better Hope
The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. (Hebrews 7:18–19 NIV)
Imagine with me a capable housewife and cook preparing her dining room for guests. She has set the cloth-covered table with her best china and silverware, positioning everything precisely. She adds a centerpiece of cut flowers—a delicate floral complement to the food we suppose will soon be coming.
But instead of the platter of savory beef and the dishes of steaming mashed potatoes and other vegetables that we had anticipated, she brings a single loaf of bread into the dining room. This she upends on the buffet, placing a strong light behind it so that the loaf of bread casts its own distinct shadow over the table service beyond it. We would have further reason to question the woman's sanity if at that point she called family and guests to the table, announcing cheerily, "The shadow of the bread is ready. You may come!"
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Before I attempt a spiritual application of that unlikely scenario, consider how the writer to the Hebrews portrays the vast difference between the Old Testament "shadow" in the law and the reality of God's glory in the person of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord: The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? . . . Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. . . . But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:1–2, 9–10, 12).
The inspired writer is plainly repetitious in his effort to fully contrast the Old Testament rituals, or shadows, with the perfections of grace, mercy and love found in the radiant, eternal person of Jesus, the Christ. This is a serious, sobering passage of Scripture, for it deals with the hope and the glory of the human race.
Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for the better hope, the ultimate hope, the perfect hope. The shadow is done away. The real is here.
Thought
The real replaces the shadow. The new takes the place of the old. Christ is no shadow! He has made the once for all sacrifice and now is risen at the right hand of the Father.
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